


Love In Plain Sight

by brokenhighways



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-01
Updated: 2014-07-01
Packaged: 2018-02-07 00:06:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1877595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenhighways/pseuds/brokenhighways
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Former bounty hunter Jensen Ackles is not the guy social worker Jared Padalecki wants helping him. But finding a kid who's been missing for a long time takes priority over his personal preferences. And if anyone help Jared can locate the child, Jensen can—even with his injury. So Jared is willing to overlook Jensen's attitude... and the fact that he's the most attractive guy he's come across in long time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love In Plain Sight

It’s a typical afternoon; Jared’s only just managing to stop himself from putting his head on his desk and staying like that for the rest of the day. There's a mass of case files piled up on said desk and they're all his. He can't even complain about unfair treatment, a quick glance around the office provides a similar view on almost every single desk. The only desk that's pile-free is the one reserved for Jensen Ackles, the town's resident bounty hunter. Well, _former_ bounty hunter. Jared's not a fan of the guy. In the month that he's been with the division of Social Services that Jared works in, all he's done is brag about taking criminals down and tell inane stories that probably aren't even true. Oddly enough, Jensen never tells the story about how he ended up working here. Just that he fucked up his leg somehow and is doing Jeff Morgan (Jared's boss) a favour by helping out while he recovers. Jared's no medical expert, but the limp that Jensen is sporting seems like more than an injury someone can get over in a few months, but alas, it isn't Jared's business. Hell, he doesn't even care all that much.

Jared’s next case sounds like it is going to be a tough one. A missing eight year old child by the name of Connor Matthews, who is suspected to have been taken by his convict-father, meanwhile his mother is in a psychiatric facility. It's been a year since anyone has seen the kid and without any concrete idea of where he is, it's going to be one of those cases that drive Jared even crazier than usual. He looks Connor up on the NCIC, but there isn't much there that's not in the file. He calls NCMEC but they don't have much to tell him either.

"Where was he last seen?" Jeff asks when Jared goes to talk to him.

"A neighbour says that he saw him being led away by a tall man with dark hair, possibly the child's father but he wasn’t sure," Jared replies. "From what I can gather, the father wasn't around. He's been in and out of jail. I called the police department and they say that he's been off the grid for two years."

"Which is right about the time that Connor went missing, right?" Jensen chimes in and Jared does his best not respond with a snarky response. He's not sure why Jensen's even in Jeff's office.

"Yeah," he says in a gruff tone when silence falls in the room. Jensen raises an eyebrow but makes no further comment.

"What's the police's stance on this case?" Jeff asks while continuing to study the report. "Do they have any leads?"

Jared sighs. "They have what we have here. I'm in contact with the local missing persons unit, but they're swamped and only willing to offer assistance if there are new leads. They did agree to send over a bunch of transcripts of calls and information they've received so far."

"Good. You and Jensen can go through those, see if you can't come up with something fresh," Jeff says. "I'll see if I can narrow down a last known location for the father."

~

When the files reach the office, Jared divides the stack into two. He turns to stand and give Jensen a pile only to find the man standing right there. Jensen's leaning on the desk a little and his face is a little pale so Jared pulls up an extra chair quickly and gestures for Jensen to sit.

"Thanks," Jensen says a little breathlessly. "I keep on forgetting when to take these stupid meds." Jared frowns but says nothing. He doesn't think that making a comment about how Jensen chose to become a bounty hunter would be appropriate. Plus he doesn't do bitchy. He's Jared, the nice guy who barely has a bad word to say about anyone (not counting the scumbags he's sometimes faced with at work). There's just something about Jensen that rubs him the wrong way.

"You don't like me very much do you?" Jared looks up to see Jensen smirking at him. He's immediately unimpressed (and sort of annoyed with himself for suddenly thinking about how attractive Jensen is). The guy might be a douchebag, but damn if he isn't easy on the eyes.

"What makes you say that?" is his dry response. He points at the pile closest to Jensen. "That's yours, by the way."

Jensen whistles. "This'll take a while. With all this information, I'm surprised that they haven't found the kid. I've found guys with just a name scribbled on a scrap of paper." All of that is said with a sniff of arrogance and Jared makes his disapproval evident on his face.

"It's a pity that the police can't afford to drop everything and go after criminals just so they can pick up a nice check at the end of it."

"Last time I checked that's exactly what they do," Jensen retorts, with an edge to his voice. "They're just not as flexible as bounty hunters."

"Whatever," Jared says. They don't have time to sit here and argue.

~

Jared gives up after about three hours, his hands cramping from all the notes he's typed up. So far he hasn't found out much. The only interesting thing is that no one has ever corroborated the neighbour’s version of events. Apparently attempts to get him to go over his statement were thwarted by unattended meetings and unanswered calls.

"Says here that the neighbour, Jim Beaver, was an old, bitter man who probably took the kid," Jensen says when Jared puts this to him. He waves the sheet that he's currently reading in the air. "But this person seems to hold a grudge, so..." Jared doesn’t recognise the name, but they could literally be anybody. They can’t base everything on one statement, but he’s not going to concede the point just to placate Jensen.

"That's not a reason to discredit their statement," he points out. Jensen shrugs and goes back to reading and writing notes in what Jared’s slyly observes to be neat, straight handwriting. Jared watches him for a few moments as he tries to ignore the dull ache in his head. Following cold leads has never been his favourite thing to do. He's hit with an idea - one that'll get them out of the stuffy office for the rest of the day.

"Let's go pay the neighbour a visit." Jensen doesn't react. Jared taps the desk next to him. Jensen looks up slowly, there's a look of annoyance on his face that Jared does not care for. Even if Jensen doesn't want to go and see the neighbour there's no need to be rude about it.

"Let's finish going through the files first," Jensen says. "That way we won't miss anything important." Jensen says we but the fact that he means Jared is clear.

Jared snaps. "Gee, how much is Jeff paying you to ensure that you do a thorough job?"

"Not as much as the State pays you," Jensen says without missing a beat. "I'm not making any money from this."

"Then why are you here?" Jared asks. "Why hinder your recovery by hauling yourself here every fucking morning?" Jared's voice carries and the room grows silent. Shit. Sandy, whose desk is next to his, gives him a look of disappointment. Jared glances down as everyone goes back to work, thumbing through the files until Jeff calls him into his office.

"Jensen is a friend of mine," Jeff says when Jared reaches the office. “So if you don’t want to work with him, you can pack your bags and start looking for a new job.” Jared’s so stunned that he can’t even form any words. Instead he grows even angrier at Jensen. He nods his assent and goes back to his desk. They’ll finish going through the files first, then, because apparently Jared has to take his cues from a goddamn bounty hunter now.

~

Beaver lives in a solitary farmhouse situated on a mostly abandoned patch of land. Plumes of dust fly up as Jared drives down the dirt path leading to the house. The GPS in his truck shows him that there are some other houses in the same area, but they’re not close in distance.

"Divorced, lonely and lives in the middle of nowhere," Jensen says. "If we had a suspect checklist, we could pretty much mark those off.”

Jared ignores him, the way he has throughout the entire journey. He wants everyone to know that he's silently protesting against Jensen accompanying him to Beaver's house. Still if he _was_ talking to Jensen, now would be the time when he'd tell Jensen that they're not cops, they're with social services; they don't have grounds to arrest him, no matter what Jensen says about an unpaid ticket from twenty years ago.

Minutes after Jensen speaks, Jared's truck makes a loud splutter, and grinds to an abrupt halt. The gas meter is pointing at low, and Jared swears under his breath. Attempts to restart the car prove fruitless, and Jared gives up, and gets out of the truck. He grabs his messenger bag from the trunk, and goes back to passenger side. He taps the window loudly even though Jensen is looking up at expectantly.

"We have to walk the rest of the way," Jared says. "Unless you don't think your leg is up to it." Jared isn't trying to be catty, but from the way Jensen's eyes narrow; he knows that his words have been misinterpreted. Jensen glares at him, exiting the car silently, and he slams the door shut with a little more gusto than necessary. He limps past Jared without a word, and with a sigh Jared follows after him.

  
~

  
They reach Beaver's place twenty minutes later. Jensen’s still giving Jared the silent treatment and now they’re _both_ pissed off. With a weary sigh, Jared steps onto the perch at the front door and uses the knocker. There’s silence. Jared knocks again. More silence. After two minutes he turns around and shrugs.

“Looks like he’s not here.” It’s not unusual for Jared to show up at a house and not get an answer. What he’s supposed to do now is go back to the office, write this up and discuss whether to return with the police. Jensen doesn’t seem to agree with that.

“So you’re just going to give up?” he says, voice strained in a way that makes Jared automatically think that he’s touched a nerve somehow. “This is why your clearance rate is as low as it is.” Jared grits his teeth. Touched nerve or not, that’s out of line.

“I’m not going to rise to that. Let’s go.” Jensen looks disappointed that Jared isn’t giving him the argument he wanted but then his face morphs into a steely, blank gaze and his eyes are no longer trained on Jared. Jensen tilts his head towards the door.

“Did you hear that?” he whispers. Jared shakes his head. A gunshot flies through the door and past Jared, grazing his arm slightly. The pain hits him instantly, and he stumbles backwards and almost falls flat on his ass. Jensen steadies him as best as he can, before turning towards the door with his gun raised.

“No, wait,” Jared says. “Let’s try to reason with him first.”

Jensen’s expression quite clearly says _are you kidding me_? Truth be told, Jared should have called out in the first place. He’d been so desperate to leave that he’d almost missed out on a potential lead. He shoves down the urge to blame Jensen because dammit, his arm hurts.

“You’re bleeding,” Jensen says quietly as his eyes zone in on Jared’s arm. That pushes Jared into pretending that his arm isn’t hurting too badly.

“Mr Beaver,” he calls out. “We’re not here to hurt you. We’re with the Social Services. We need to ask you a few questions about Connor Matthews.” Jensen mutters something under his breath but Jared ignores him. Jensen holds out the gun and grunts ‘hold this’ before shoving it into Jared’s hand. Jared knows enough to about them to know that the safety is on, but he still fucking hates guns. Before he can ask Jensen what the hell he thinks he’s doing, Jensen’s pulling a hanky out from his pocket and tying it around the wound on Jared’s arm. Jared’s sure that it’s just a flesh wound, but the gesture’s nice enough. He gives Jensen a faint smile.

Jensen doesn’t smile back in return, he just says, “We’ll call the cops once I’ve disarmed him.” Jared nods wearily.

“Please don’t call the cops,” a new voice sounds from behind them. “Those punks have been waiting for any old chance to throw my sorry ass in jail.” For a guy with a serious leg injury, Jensen moves pretty fast and within seconds the man (who Jared assumes to be Beaver) has his face pressed into the frame of his own door and Jensen’s got the rifle in his free arm.

“Call the cops, Jared,” Jensen says calmly. Jared blinks. Jensen’s right; they should call the cops, but he’s sure that if they keep Beaver on side for a few minutes, he can give them some valuable information.

“Mr Beaver, you said that you saw Connor Matthews on the day his disappeared being led away by a man with tall, dark hair,” Jared says. “Is there anything else that you remember?”

“No comment,” Beaver says. “How do I know you guys are even who say you are. You’ve got a gun, and Riggs over here just attacked me for no good reason.”

Jared’s not sure if it’s the wound or potential blood loss but what he really wants to say is, “Wait, does that make me Murtaugh? I’m younger!” He thinks that he possibly actually says it judging by the exasperated look that Jensen gives him.

“It doesn’t matter who we say you are,” Jensen snaps angrily. “You shot at us through your damn door, hell, you shot my _partner_.” Jared’s heart does a weird flipping thing in his chest at the mention of _partner_ and he wonders if there was poison in that bullet. He wonders for a moment too long and his head begins to hurt as the pain in his arm flares up. Jared finally gives in and calls the police.

~

The police take Beaver into custody and once Jared’s been patched up, Jeff tries to send him home, but he still has about an hour left on the clock. That's time that he can't really afford to waste, given the size of his workload. Plus he's fine. The bullet only grazed his arm. Jared tenses up. Holy shit, he’s been shot. Well, shot _at_ , but still. Someone aimed a gun at him. He's hit by an intense wave of panic, curling up his stomach and gripping his chest tight. He doesn't realise that he's gripping his computer mouse tightly until he feels a light tap on his shoulder. He whirls around furiously, breathing a sigh of relief when he realises that it's just Jensen. Jensen, who has a gun to protect him from other guns, Jared's suddenly very glad that Jeff had made Jensen ride along with him.  
  
"Dude, are you okay?" Jensen's voice sounds far away and Jared blinks up at him. "Maybe you should go home like Jeff said." There's no anger or animosity in his voice, Jared realises, just genuine concern.  
  
"You saved my life," Jared says. "I…Thank you. For being there." Jensen nods uncomfortably. They stare at each other for a few seconds. Eventually, Jensen shifts, his shoe scuffing against the floor quietly.  
  
"Are you going to okay to drive your truck?" Jensen asks in a tone that says he doesn't think that Jared is. The police dropped it off earlier after refilling the gas tank for him. Apparently Jeff is good friends with the sheriff.  
  
"Sure," Jared says, ignoring the fact that his hands are shaking visibly. All the adrenaline he felt back at Beaver's house is gone. In its place there's anxiety and shock. Talk about delayed reactions.  
  
"It's okay to feel a little panicked," Jensen says. "I've been shot at countless number of times and after, when no one could see me, I always shook like a damn leaf. Hell, I still get a little anxious about my leg. But...it'll get better." Jared suddenly feels stupid. He's freaking out, and he doesn't even have a major injury, whereas Jensen might never be able to walk without a limp ever again.  
  
"How are you getting home?" he asks, boosting his voice in an attempt to sound like his usual self. "I'll give you a lift." Jensen raises an eyebrow, but he doesn't say anything.  
  
~  
  
The drive to Jensen's place is quiet at first. He's staying at a motel a little further out than Jared's place. It must cost a lot in cab fares. When he points this out, Jensen shrugs and continues to stare out of the window. He’s been quiet ever since Jared refused to let him drive. And that’s a decision that Jared is starting to regret; he kind of just wants to go home, fall into bed and sleep for a lifetime.

“Hey listen, I have a spare room,” Jared says. “You can crash there for today because I don’t think I can drive you all way the out to your motel.”

“My best friend’s wife,” Jensen says out of the blue. Jared glances at him. “You said that being a bounty hunter meant that I went after criminals just so I can pick up a nice check at the end of it, but that’s not it.”

“You don’t have to tell me anything, Jensen,” Jared says wearily. “I was out of line before. I don’t know you and I shouldn’t have judged you.” Truth be told, Jared’s head is pounding, and he’s not really ready for this conversation. He maybe misjudged Jensen, and that’s on him. He doesn’t want to have to process this conversation while he’s not a hundred percent okay.

“Well, what if I want to talk about it?” Jensen asks. Jared bites back a sigh as he pulls onto his street.

“Can it wait until we both get some rest?” Jared says. “I _am_ playing hurt here after all.” He smiles to show Jensen that he means it and Jensen nods.

~

The next morning, Jared’s nursing a cup of coffee and wishing he could take a truckload of Vicodin when Jensen shuffles in, rubbing at his eyes slightly.

“Morning,” he grunts as he drops into the seat across from Jared. “Did you sleep okay?”

Jared shrugs, “It was alright, I guess. You?”

“It beat sleeping in a car, so it was alright,” Jensen says with a wry smile.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Jared shoots back. “Sleeping in the car seems like it’d be pretty cool. I bet _Knight Rider_ slept in the _KITT_ every once in a while.”

“It’s too early to discuss anything related to the Hoff,” Jensen says with a half-groan half-laugh. “Not before coffee.” Jared goes to grab Jensen a coffee, dumping in a spoon of sugar and sliding it over to him. Jensen gives him an odd look but doesn’t say anything past a mumbled thanks.

Jared sits back down and stretches his legs, wincing to himself when he brushes past Jensen’s leg.

“Sorry!” he apologises quickly. “Did I hurt you?” Jensen gives him an amused look.

“It’s fine. It’s mostly nerve pain at the moment,” he says. “The docs think the pain might go away one day but I’ll probably always have the limp.”

“Limps can be sexy,” Jared says, because he apparently has no filter. Jensen laughs though, eyes lighting up in a way that Jared’s never seen before. Gone is the cocky, arrogant bounty hunter who stormed his way into Jared’s workplace and in his place is someone that… Jared thinks he might actually want to know. Or it could be that he’s just still a little overwhelmed over the fact that Jensen saved his life yesterday.

“So…your best friend’s wife?” Jared asks. Jensen tenses up immediately and Jared wonders if he shouldn’t have said anything; he just thinks that it’ll be better to get this particular conversation out of the way before they resume their search for Connor. Jeff’s already left Jared a message strongly suggesting that he takes a day off, so he’s stuck at home.

“She…she, uh, died,” Jensen says slowly. “She was shot. Their house was robbed and she tried to apprehend the guys and they killed her. The cops…they…they didn’t do anything past the usual bullshit, you know, investigating leads blah, blah, and word got out that the guys who did it were in the next town over, which so happened to be out of their ‘jurisdiction’.”

“So what did you do?” Jared asks.

“Well, nothing at first, but my friend got all depressed, and he almost tried to take these guys out by himself. He bought a gun and everything and it took a lot for me to talk him out of it. In the end they finally arrested the guys, but they were released on bail.”

“And that’s where the bounty hunter came in,” Jared says.

Jensen nods. “They skipped bail and pulled the same thing at another house and the police hired some bounty hunter to help find them. And I guess that guy was just doing it for money but for my friend, the thought of someone out there looking made him feel a lot better. And that always stuck with me you know? I was aimless at the time, just moving from one job to the next and well, here I am.” Jared doesn’t quite know what to say. Sure, he might have a little hard on Jensen at first but he didn't ask for an explanation. He is grateful that Jensen’s given him one though, because he now knows that his assumptions were wrong. Jensen’s not a bad guy at all, he’s far from it.

"I'm sorry," he says. "If I'd have known I wouldn't have been so hard on you." He knows immediately that he’s said the wrong thing. Jensen’s face darkens, and it’s almost as if a shutter comes down.

"You're not sorry," Jensen says harshly. "Don't say that to me. That's not why I told you any of this. I don’t need your pity, man."

Jared is flabbergasted. "I…what do you want me to say?"

"Don't act like you care, Jared," Jensen says. “You've made your position clear from Day One and—you know what, this is on me. I shouldn’t have told you anything.” Jensen gets up from his seat and fishes his phone from his pocket.

“Jensen, wait—“

“No, no, I guess I got caught up in the moment,” Jensen says quietly. “I’m going to go and call a cab to drop me back off at my motel.” He stands and limps out of the room. Jared watches him wordlessly; dropping his head into his hands when Jensen’s form goes out of view.

~

The next day they’re back at work and the police allow Jared to talk to Beaver. He’s down at the local police department awaiting his court appearance and he doesn’t look too pleased to see them when they walk into the questioning room. Considering Jensen’s lack of warmth this morning, Jared’s not exactly feeling too chipper either. One of the officers announces their arrival and makes the mistake of referring to Jensen as a social worker.

“Actually, I’m not a social worker,” Jensen says. “I’m just the lowly minion stuck helping this guy.” Beaver snorts at that and mutters something about good cop and bad cop. Jared rolls his eyes because this is serious. Whatever beef Jensen has with him has no bearing on this case. A child is missing and while Jared’s on the clock, that’s all he cares about.

He looks and Jensen and asks, “Can I have a word with you?” They leave the interview room and come to a halt in the corridor. Jensen gets the first word in.

“What I can’t make a joke every now and then? Jeez.” Jared pinches the bridge of his noise.

“A child is missing,” he says slowly. “And as things stands, it’s looking quite likely that we might be too late to save this kid. So, no, you can’t make any jokes. I get it; you don’t like me because I was a dick to you. I’m sorry about that, but I don’t have time to kiss your ass right now. This is my job and I’m not going to have you undermine me when there is a child’s life at stake.”

“I…” Jensen hesitates and looks away. “I’m sorry, okay? I guess I’m feeling a little bit touchy about yesterday morning. I’m sorry about that by the way. I overreacted.”

Jared isn’t expecting that but he doesn’t have time to dwell on it right now. “Let’s just go in there and ask this guy what he knows, okay?”

~

The conversation with Beaver throws out some surprises. At first he gives them the same story they have on file. He saw the child being led away by a tall, dark-haired man who fits the description of the father. Jared asks him a few more questions after but they don’t get anything else from him. They leave the room once again and Jared runs a hand through his hair, because dammit, this guy was the _best_ lead that they had.

“This—it’s a waste of time, isn’t it?” Jared says to Jensen. “We’re never going to find this kid.” Jensen doesn’t say anything in response; in fact he doesn’t even seem to be paying attention. He’s frowning and staring off into the distance.

“First of all – if you and I are going to be working together, I need you to follow my number one rule – _never give up at the first hurdle_. You’re going to find this kid. I know it. I’ve never not found anyone that I wanted to and I’m not about to break that streak now. Okay?”

“O-okay,” Jared replies. He rubs a hand over his face; he’s just a little tired right now. He would give anything to have something go his way right now. Luckily, Jensen seems to have a fresh theory.

“Wasn’t it funny how Beaver seemed to imply that the kid was being led away by the father?” he says y. “Almost as if someone told him what to say.”

Jared didn’t notice that. “Really?”

“Not only that, there were a lot of holes in his story,” Jensen adds. “He said that he hadn't seen the dad before, but then he said that he’d seen him here and there." Jared frowns. That doesn't mean much. He could have heard a description from someone and thought he knew what the guy looked like.  
  
"That's true," Jensen says when Jared points that out. "But if a kid's life was at stake, wouldn't you want to be sure before you told the police something?"  
  
"I guess," Jared says. _He_ would want to be sure, but his lack faith in the human race doesn’t allow him to consider that Beaver would care. "But I don't see him changing his story."  
  
"Give me ten minutes with him and I'll have him singing like a canary."  
  
It takes eight minutes.

~  
  
"So, what did he say?" Jared asks as they make their way back to his truck. "If it was anything that involves someone else, it might be a good idea to stick around and get the station to run a check."  
  
"The mother," Jensen says, seemingly ignoring Jared's question. "What was her deal again?"  
  
"Last known location was a mental facility across town," Jared says. "I wasn't able to get in touch with them via the phone. It wasn't...she didn't tell Beaver to say all of that. Did she?" Jensen's grim expression pretty much answers that question. Jared decides not to ask what exactly Beaver said until they’re noting down all of this information for the paperwork.  
  
"Guess we know where we need to go next," Jared says. "Thanks for not giving up back there. Sometimes all of this just gets to me, especially when it seems like I go from one case to another without any breathing space."  
  
"No problem, _Murtaugh_ ," Jensen says. Jared huffs a laugh in response and pulls out of the parking lot.  
  
~  
  
On the drive to the mental facility, they run out of idle topics to discuss, and Jensen turns to watching Jared silently. That goes on for about five minutes before the scrutiny becomes more than uncomfortable and Jared is forced to speak. "Is there something on my face?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Then why are you looking at me like that?"  
  
Jensen smiles and looks away. "I'm trying to figure you out. That's all."  
  
Jared rolls his eyes. "I'm an open book."  
  
That forces a laugh out of Jensen. "Yeah, that's what Jeff said before I met you. And then it was a month of the cold shoulder and pretty judgey eyes."  
  
"I did not give you ‘judgey’ eyes," Jared retorts. He definitely does not blush at Jensen’s use of ‘pretty’.  
  
"You kinda did, buddy," Jensen replies. "And it was kind of hard not to feel a little defensive when I had an office full of people telling me that you were a total sweetheart when I was yet to see any supporting evidence.”

  
"Yeah, I’m sorry about that and," Jared pauses, "well, I guess, I reacted that way because you seemed so smug and cocky about the fact that you got to wave a gun around."  
  
"I figured that it was the gun thing a while back,” Jensen says. “What are you, one of those campaigners?” Jared feels a sudden flush of irritation; he doesn’t really appreciate Jensen’s tone.

“What if I am?” he says. He might be ‘one of those campaigners’ but he has his reasons that he has no intention of sharing.

Jensen shrugs. “That’s good for you, man. Though, that’s not why you’re so uncomfortable around them. What’s the story there?” Jared gets that Jensen might just trying to make conversation, but they’re on the job – now’s not the time for them to be getting into each other’s personal lives.

“Look, I have a bunch of the notes in my bag. It’s on the back seat. Why don’t you see if there’s anything that I didn’t pick up on.”

“Aye, aye, Cap’n,” Jensen mutters, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

~

Within five minutes of being at the Clearview Psychiatric Center Jared can tell that he’s reached another dead end. Dana Charles, Connor’s mother, is nowhere to be found.

“The mother checked out three weeks after she was put in here,” he announces as he gets back into the truck.

“And?” Jensen replies. Jared gives him a questioning look. “What else did you find out? Did she have a roommate? Did she check anything in? What did she leave behind?”

“Nothing!” Jared says. “They clammed up instantly. Apparently they can’t tell me anyway, not unless I get the police involved. That’s going to take another couple of days _plus_ another mountain of paperwork.”

“Or, I can bust out this bad boy.” Jensen reaches into his pocket and pulls out a police badge.

“Where did you get that?” Jared exclaims. “Did you steal it from the station?”

Jensen gives him a cocky smirk. “Give me a little credit. I paid some guy $100, got the full I.D. and everything.” Jared stares at him – if Jeff finds out about this, Jared could get in some serious trouble. On the other hand, he really doesn’t want to have to put in a request to the police, and there’s something infectious about Jensen’s smirk that stops him from starting the car. Instead he watches as Jensen walks over to the building and leans back in his seat and waits. Jensen’s back in the car after thirty minutes (twenty of those which Jared spent wondering if he should go in and rescue him or escape before the _real_ police show up). He’s holding a scrap of paper in his hand, and he waves it at Jared as he slides back into the car.

“They didn’t really have a lot to tell me,” he informs Jared. “Managed to get the name and address of the person Dana shared a room with while she was here. Apparently, she checked herself in and checked herself out. She kept to herself mostly. The attendant I spoke to didn’t seem as though she believed that she was actually mentally challenged, if that counts for anything.”

Jared quirks an eyebrow and says, “How professional of her.”

“We can’t all adhere to the rule book, dude,” Jensen says with another one of his trademark smirks. “Life’s all about making your own.”

Jared rolls his eyes and starts the engine.

~

By the time they make it back to the office, there isn’t much left of the work day. Jared grabs his stuff, including the file on Connor and he heads over to the parking lot. He stops in his tracks when he sees Jensen standing on the sidewalk, checking his watch with pain etched on his face. There’s a black holdall on the floor next to him and Jared assumes that he’s waiting for a cab to drive him to whatever motel he’s been staying at. He thinks about just heading to his truck and going home to have a quiet, peaceful night but his mind is made up almost immediately. He walks over to Jensen and thinks of a way to ask Jensen if he wants to stay over without making things awkward. They’re just starting to get along after all.

“Hey, my spare room’s still available if you want it,” he says casually when Jensen notices him approaching. Jensen doesn’t respond at first; he just gives Jared a weird look, almost as if he’s annoyed. Jared’s not really sure if Jensen’s actually irritated with him or if he’s just cranky because of his leg, but he finds that it almost doesn’t bother him. Which is funny because usually just a glimpse of Jensen’s smirk is enough to irritate him, but…Jensen’s not as bad as Jared thought he was.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Jensen says finally. “We’d probably somehow find ourselves in the middle of a screaming match.”

“I’m planning on ordering a pizza, and going straight to bed, so there’ll be no arguments from me. I promise.” Jared’s not sure why he wants Jensen to agree with him, but he does. Some kind of unknown emotion is rising up in him with such a passion that he’s pretty sure he might just start begging Jensen to come over to his place. Considering that he couldn’t stand the guy a couple of days ago (and the fact that they still have their _moments_ where they clash), it’s kind of unsettling. Almost as if Jared has some kind of crush on him which he must certainly does not. Finding someone attractive doesn’t automatically mean that Jared likes them _that_ way. So offering his place is simply just the right thing to do.

“Fine, I’ll catch a ride with you then,” Jensen says, though he still sounds unsure. “You’re not doing this out of pity are you?” There it is, the comment that should send Jared over the edge, because what kind of person questions a nice gesture? However, Jared gets it. Jensen, like most men, has pride, and it’s perhaps been dented by his injury a little.

“The first week you were at the office, you showed up at 10 in the morning every day,” Jared says instead. “This way I don’t have to wait on your ass to show up before we can get to work.”

~

True to his word, when they get home Jared orders Chinese takeout (Jensen had vetoed pizza _but_ offered to pay), eats in his bed while watching an old rerun of _Maury_. After he’s tidied up, he checks his emails and messages and finally lies down, still listening to the soothing sound of the umpteenth ‘ _you’re not my father_!’ argument. Jensen’s down in the spare room, probably asleep because Jared hasn’t heard a peep out of him since the food arrived. Eventually, Jared starts to doze off, only waking up when he hears a loud noise that sounds like a glass shattering. His eyes fly open immediately and he blindly waves his hand in the dark as he tries to locate his baseball bat. A familiar voice sounds downstairs and he breathes a sigh of relief as he realises that it's Jensen. He switches on his bedside lamp and glances at his alarm clock. The display reads _03:00_ and Jared wonders what the hell Jensen is doing down there.

By the time he makes it downstairs, Jensen’s standing by the broken glass, dustpan and brush in one hand and his phone in his other. He’s muttering at his phone furiously as he contemplates the mess on the floor.

“Is everything okay?” Jared asks, stepping forward so that Jensen can see him.

“Yeah, sorry, I…I’ll clean this up in a second,” he replies tiredly.

“It’s a little late to taking phone calls.” Jared has no idea what possesses him to say that but his treacherous mouth does it anyway.

Jensen laughs humourlessly. “I think my ex-wife kind would agree with you.” Huh. Jared didn’t know that Jensen had been married before. Does this mean that he’s bi…or hell, straight? Maybe Jared’s been reading the wrong vibes.

“Maybe you should have picked a better time to call her.”

“I…it’s hard for me,” Jensen says uneasily. “Because of my son. He’s twelve, almost thirteen. Danneel had him when we were in our early twenties and our marriage fell apart soon after, and eventually I had to get out of there. She won full custody and it’s been an uphill battle ever since and just…looking for this little kid, Connor, has made me question my lack of involvement in my son’s life.” It’s as plain as day that Jensen loves his son, and Jared can’t help finding it endearing. Jared’s come across so many neglectful parents that he can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief that Jensen isn’t one of them, at least not in an emotional sense.

“I wish that things could be different,” he says gently. “Maybe you can revise your custody agreement?” Jensen’s shaking his head before Jared’s even finished speaking, a haunted expression creeping onto his face.

He gestures at his leg. “I’m not in any fit state to look after him when I can barely take care of myself. I’m a wreck…I’d only screw him up. All I want right now is for him to know that I’m here, and that I love him.” As someone who grew up without their father being in the picture, Jensen’s words touch Jared deeply. It’s like Jensen’s finally removed the hard shell that he hides behind and Jared kind of likes what he sees. Yes, Jensen has flaws but…fuck, Jared’s intrigue is starting to get the better of him.

“He won’t know that unless you tell him,” Jared points out. “And if that means doing your best to get on good terms with Danneel then so be it, but I can assure you of one thing – he’ll be glad to have you in his life, even if it’s just for a little while.” Jared’s talking about himself really, but he thinks that it’s true of any kid whose father hasn’t been in the picture. There’s always that tendril of hope, that ghost of a feeling in his stomach when he thinks about whether or not his father loved him. Would he be proud of Jared today? There’s not a day that goes by when Jared doesn’t think about it, no matter what his mom told him about his dad’ and the drinking problem that drove him away.

“I was trying to but she wouldn’t let me talk to him!” Jensen’s almost becoming hysterical and Jared moves until he’s standing near Jensen, pulling him away from the broken glass and grabbing one of his hands gently.

“It’s late and he’s probably asleep,” he says calmly. “You have the whole of tomorrow to try and speak to him, hell you can even go and see him. What’s happened to Connor has no bearing on your son. It’s just given you the push you needed to make contact with him and screwing things up with your ex isn’t going to do you any favours, okay? Just take it easy.”

Jensen exhales audibly and he nods slowly. “I know that. I know. I just…panicked I guess. From my experience, the fact that no one saw the kid at all can only really mean one thing and that…”

“It fucking sucks,” Jared takes up the reins of the conversation, “But that’s life.” He’s pretty much reached the same conclusion and he’s had a short while to try and process it. There aren’t many deceased kids that Jared’s actually found, usually they’re just presumed missing and the stay that way, a red stamp denoting their lost status, the damning notion that no one can do anything for them anymore. He sometimes hopes that they’re out there somewhere, living life with someone decent, who did their best to save a good kid. However, Jared of all people knows that people can be monsters and that ‘out there’ can be a nasty, unsafe place.

They might not ever find Connor Matthews but Jared’s takes a little solace in the fact that they’re going to give it their best shot.

“He’s a _kid_ ,” Jensen says almost pleadingly. “How could his parents let him down so badly?”

Jared hates seeing the pain in Jensen’s eyes; but he doesn’t know how to take it away. So he kisses him. It’s soft, chaste and possibly evidence of his lunacy because it’s clear that Jensen’s in no state to be toyed with emotionally, as unintentional as it may be. Jensen’s bright, green eyes are as wide as saucers when Jared pulls away. Embarrassment hits him like a freight truck and he steps back, dropping Jensen’s hand as if it’s hot poker. He begins to ponder if letting Jensen stay here was a good idea.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t…” He’s cuts off abruptly when Jensen steps into his personal space.

Jared waits for the anger, or the damning accusation but it doesn’t come. Lust flares in Jensen’s eyes forcing Jared to catch his breath slightly. It’s late and they need to be up in a few hours – they should go back to bed, rest up and wake up determined to focus on the task at hand. However, it seems like Jensen has other ideas (not that Jared is far behind him). The tension between them is at its precipice and they’re _this_ close to letting it bubble over the surface, and fuck, Jared’s not sure if he’s going to be able to stop himself. He stands there and waits for Jensen’s rebuke because dammit, one of them has to be reasonable here and it’s not going to be Jared. Not when he can’t stop staring at the redness of Jensen’s mouth without wanting to feel them again.

“Are you sorry because you think you’ve messed up or because it’s _me_?” Jared’s not expecting Jensen to say _that_. He swallows hard, his heart thumping violently in his chest as he weighs up his answer. He could say that it’s the former and put a stop to this right now, or he can admit that he likes Jensen and that it was deliberate, but only one of those answers would be true and he doesn’t want to lie.

Deciding to forgo a verbal response, Jared leans forward and captures Jensen’s mouth with his own once again, and uses his hand to grab a fistful of Jensen’s shirt. Jensen reacts with equal fervour, moaning softly as he kisses Jared back _hard_ as their bodies align perfectly. Jared’s already half-hard cock springs to attention and he can feel Jensen’s digging into his thigh. Despite the fact that Jared’s delirious with desire and need, he’s still conscious of Jensen’s injured leg and he pulls him forward and hoists him onto the kitchen counter. They barely pause between their kisses as Jensen’s ass slides back against the surface and Jared situates himself between his legs.

“Touch me,” Jensen pants against his mouth and Jared wastes no time in unbuttoning Jensen’s fly and sticking his hand into his underwear. He pulls out Jensen’s cock, his thumb smoothing the precome against the head as Jensen latches onto his neck and sucks at it. Jared revels in the soft, smooth velvety skin as he jerks Jensen’s off, shifting slightly as Jensen whispers into his ear. It’s merely a variation of _fuck_ and _harder,_ but he might as well be singing a fucking hymn. Eventually, Jensen climaxes, groaning loudly as white spurts of come splatter onto Jared’s hand, and he finds himself coming right there, untouched, spurred on by the pure ecstasy on Jensen’s face.

Jared decides right there and then to enjoy this moment for what is and worry about the consequences later.

~

“Did you have a hot date last night?” Sandy’s smirking at Jared when he looks up from rummaging around on his desk and he frowns at her. “You have a hickey on your neck?” Oh. That. Jared’s face flushes as Jensen snorts from where he’s sitting. A brief flash of Jensen biting at his neck enters his mind. He feels his cock stir in his pants and he does his best to control himself.

“Something like that,” he says eventually, knowing that if he wants her to shut up about it he has to placate her somehow. “I’ll tell you about it later.” That seems to satisfy her and she goes back to her own desk. He glances at Jensen and is surprised to see him staring back at him smugly.

Jensen makes a big show of leaning forward and whispering, “So am I going to be your dirty little secret?” Jared rolls his eyes and goes back to looking for the forms he’s supposed have filled out for Jeff. He’s not sure how he managed to forget that Jensen can be a royal pain in the ass. Gone is the vulnerable, human side that Jensen showed him last night and its place is cocky, arrogant Jensen, who Jared decides to ignore for now.

They have work to do.

~

Finding Dana Charles’ temporary roommate doesn’t prove to be too difficult. Her name is Alona Tal and she works at a bakery across town. Technically Jared only really has the jurisdiction to ask if Ms Tal remembers anything about Dana that relates to Connor, but usually he finds that striking up rapport and being friendly pays off when he needs someone to tell him the intricate details.

“I’m going to take the lead on this one, okay?” he tells Jensen as they approach the storefront. He shouldn’t have to say anything, but, alas, it definitely needs to be voiced in this instance.

“Alright, Starsky,” Jensen says, his tone implying that he’s not taking it seriously. Jared stops abruptly and he turns to face him, schooling his face into (what he hopes is) a stern expression. He feels as if he’s about to scold a child. At this point Jeff should be paying _him_ to entertain Jensen each day.

“I mean it. You’re here to help me find a missing kid, so your macho-bravado-bullshit crap is not welcome here.” Jared knows that he’s being harsh but he’s already irritated and he doesn’t need Jensen fucking this up for them. All he gets in response is a quirked eyebrow and a nod. Jared turns back around and steps into the bakery. There are a few people waiting in line so he waits for it to disperse before approaching the counter. He can see from the nametag that the blonde woman standing behind it is Alona, but he asks to speak to her just to be polite. Her eyes narrow in suspicion as she asks him who he is.

“We’re with Social Services,” he answers, flashing his identification briefly. It’s nothing as elaborate as Jensen’s fake I.D. – it’s just the standard plastic card slotted into the clip part of a lanyard. “Is there anywhere that we can talk?” She stares at him long and hard before she nods and jerks her head towards the back are of the bakery. She calls out for someone to watch the store before directing Jared and Jensen into one of the rooms. It’s small, with a desk and lumpy looking couch, but they take a seat without any complaint.

“So what’s this about?” she says, not bothering to conceal the hostility in her tone. “Has someone reported me?” Jared does his best not to react to that. There are certain red flags that they’re trained to look out for, but that’s not what he’s here for today so he refocuses on the matter at hand. Alona is indeed familiar with Social Services, but not Jared’s department, so it isn’t his place to comment anyway.

“I’m here about a former roommate of yours, Dana Charles,” he informs her. “You shared a room for a few weeks at Clearview Psychiatric Center, around the time that her son went missing. It was about two years ago.”

Alona’s response is quick and to the point. “I don’t remember. Sorry.” Jared glances at Jensen who shakes his head slightly. She’s lying.

“Look, we’re not here for any matter relating to you, okay?” Jared softens his voice and ensures to make eye contact. “We’re here because a child is missing. His name is Connor and he’s eight years old. No one has seen him for two years either and we fear that he could be in serious danger.” He pulls out the printed out picture from the file and hands it to her. She takes it from him wordlessly and stares down at it for a long while, biding her time before she responds.

“How do I know that you’re not going to take what I say and use it to make up all kinds of lies about me?”

Jensen clears his throat. “We’re only concerned about the kid right now. We have nothing to do with you and—“

Jared cuts him off with steely glare. “Do you have any idea where Dana might be?” Jensen mutters something under his breath but Jared ignores him. “Did she say anything to you before she left the facility?”

Alona shrugs. “I was pretty messed up back then, so I don’t know what I can tell you. She was quiet and…kind of weird. She always used to talk about Connor, like he was…gone. At one point I thought she was making him up but she showed me a picture once.”

“Did she ever mention where Connor was?”

“No she didn’t,” Alona says. “From what I recall, she mostly spoke about her ex and how controlling he was, how he’d made her this way. Like I said, I was pretty messed up but I remember thinking that there was something weird about her.”

Jensen chimes in with a question of his own. “Can you elaborate? Weird in what way? Sometimes it’s the strange things that matter the most?”

“Don’t quote me on this but…when I look back on my time at Clearview, I sometimes think that she was there for some other reason other than treatment,” Alona says. “One minute she’d be fine and then the second one of the workers came by she went bananas. I was really surprised when she checked herself out. It was so weird.”

Jared frowns. “Are you saying that she _pretended_ to have mental issues?”

Alona shrugs once again, glancing at the clock as she stands up from the desk chair. “I’m just telling you what I saw and what my opinions were.” She’s good. She’s told them enough to go on without actually stating anything as fact.

“Thank you for your time,” Jared says as he gets up. “I’ll let you know if we need your help again.”

~

Following their meeting with Alona, they head over to the police station; Jeff calls to tell him that the police have a bunch of missing person reports that match Connor’s profile to go through. It’s a rather mundane and tedious task, but Jared’s far from bored due to Jensen telling him how he would have handled the Alona ‘situation’. It’s almost as if Jensen’s resorted back to the callous douche he was when they first met, but Jared knows that it’s a reaction from what happened between them and he tries to let it go. His method of coping is to throw himself into his work whereas Jensen’s is to be an ass.

Hell, nobody’s perfect.

However, Jared finally loses his patience on the drive back to the office. Jensen's been pushing him all day, mock bravado and teasing smirks all aimed in Jared's direction. He’s been telling him how to do his job, offering unwanted insight and just being an all-round nuisance. After all the progress that they've made, it is frustrating to see that Jensen has reverted back to the persona that Jared hates. He understands that Jensen might have some misgivings about what they did, but he doesn't need to be a dick about it.  
  
"Why are you acting like this?" he snaps. "Last night you were...well, you actually opened up to me. Again! I thought that maybe we were finally getting somewhere." Jared stumbles over his words, suddenly unsure of what he's saying. Yes, they'd sort of gotten each other off and Jensen confided in him, but maybe he's expecting too much. Maybe he should let this go. Is Jensen the kind of man that he wants to end up with? Someone's who hides behind a smug, arrogant and unlikeable persona? Someone who’s afraid to let people see the real him.

“You need to lighten up, man,” Jensen says, doing his best to deflect away from the situation and it’s fucking rich of him to insinuate that Jared’s overreacting. He lets his anger boil on the rest of the way, not willing to risk getting into the accident just because of Jensen’s stupid behaviour. Once he’s parked in the parking lot, he turns to face Jensen.

“Before you go, I just want to say one thing,” he says. “You might think that kissing me was a mistake and that everything else that happened was a mistake but it’s personal shit, it stays at home. All of the feelings arising from that? They have nothing to do with work and I’m not going to allow you to disrespect me anymore. If you feel as though you can do a better job, go and get the qualifications and become a social worker but don’t _ever_ tell me how to do my job.”

“Jared, I--“

“No. I don’t want to hear another word from you today,” Jared spits out. “If you wanted to reject me, and say you didn’t want a repeat of last night then you could have done so. You didn’t need to spend the entire day belittling and berating me. I get it.” Jensen’s staring at him in awe and even though it’s _his_ truck, Jared gets out, slamming the door emphatically before making his way over to the building.

~

Jared buries himself with work as soon as he gets back to his desk, knowing that while he probably did just overreact, no good will come out of letting it distract him from his job. He writes up all of the information from the day and makes a few phone calls, but all in all, he doesn’t feel like he’s made much progress on the case. The missing persons’ reports prove to be a bust; they’re too vague and indistinctive for Jared to match any sightings with his case. So he turns his attention to trying to focus on what he’s found out thus far.

From what he knows Dana wasn’t always the best mother but she loved her son, enough that her sister, Grace, doesn’t think that she has anything to do with his disappearance. However, Grace was also the one to report Connor missing so Jared’s not sure how much onus to put on what she says. It’s possible that she’s trying to look out for her sister and nephew at the same time. He’s also spoken to some of the parents of Connor’s friends and the response has been the same – he was a nice kid, but his parents didn’t leave a good impression. While Jim Beaver’s original witness statement is full of complimentary things, other neighbours reported loud screaming matches and constant noise. So right now it’s looking likely that Connor either ran away, or was hurt during an altercation. The police’s observations of the house don’t really provide him with any information but Jared wants to take a look at it. When he goes to square it with Jeff, he finds Jensen in the office, laughing freely as if he doesn’t have a care in the world.

“What can I do for you, Jared?” Jeff asks when he spots him in the doorway. Jensen looks up at him, but he doesn’t say anything.

Jared steadfastly ignores Jensen, angling his body so that his back is to him. “I was wondering if I could take a look at the house where this kid was last seen. Do you think you can square it with the P.D.?” As much as the red tape annoys Jared sometimes, he really doesn’t want to find out what would happen if he just showed up at a house that he presumes to be empty. He’s heard enough horror stories to know that shit can hit the fan really fast when you least expect it.

“Is there a specific reason that you want to see it?” Jeff says. “It would be difficult to get you access because it’s owned by Ms Charles outright, if I recall correctly. That is why it’s just sitting there empty…” Jeff’s choice of words piques Jared’s attention and he frowns.

“Is there any missing persons stuff filed for Dana Charles?” he asks.

Jeff raises an eyebrow. “I’m not too familiar with this particular case yet, but you should have looked into that at the start, Jared. You know that.”

“Actually, Jared asked earlier and I checked but forgot to get back to him, so my bad.” They both turn to look at Jensen, who shrugs. “To answer your question, no there isn’t.” Jared wonders why Jensen is covering for him, giving that he’s spent a large portion of the day antagonising him.

Momentarily forgetting the fact that he’s just embarrassed himself in front of Jeff, Jared voices his theory. “It’s a bit weird, isn’t it? That no one would report her missing even though she’s just vanished into thin air. Her sister gave us some story, but it was obvious she knew that reporting Connor’s disappearance meant that she can’t have believed that her sister was innocent. And Beaver was given a story to spin and that he most likely had a soft spot her, given that he was willing to lie to the police for her. What if Beaver’s soft spot isn’t what he seems. He’s divorced, lonely; he’s got a son that he never sees. He must be desperate for company sometimes. “

“Are you saying that Beaver is _miserying <href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""> **[1]**_ her?” Jensen asks. Jared shakes his head in despair while Jeff looks on in confusion. Not only does he kind of love that Jensen seems to have some need to use movies to describe everything, he hates that he loves it. Jared comes to the conclusion that he needs to get laid, preferably soon because he’s clearly projecting feelings onto Jensen and that’s not going anywhere any time soon.

“It’s a possibility, but I was thinking that he maybe gets her what she needs and keeps quiet about her being out there,” Jared says. “From what I remember, it was quite a secluded area, so…it’s possible that she could be living there unseen.”

Jeff scratches his beard as he considers what Jared’s said.

“It’s worth looking into though, if you go in with the police and she’s there, it could ruin any chances of her telling us what she knows.”

“You mean what she did.” Jensen’s voice is firm, clear and full of distaste. Jared can’t blame him, it certainly seems as though she’s guilty of something, but for him, the only thing he cares about is the child. He’s seen a lot of instances where things happen by accident but families are torn apart anyway because the system isn’t exactly fair. People do things out of desperation.

Jeff clears his throats. “Let’s not jump to any conclusions. Pay the house a visit and see if there’s anything or anyone there. If you feel like you need backup, call me and I’ll sort something out.”

~

“Thanks for having my back with Jeff,” Jared says once they’re back in his truck. It seems like he’s spent most of his time in this damn thing over the past week and he has to say that he’s glad to have company. In the past, Jared would be working with another social worker but a slew of budget cuts and abundance of cases means that Jeff has no choice but to have them working separately unless their combined attention is needed on a very urgent case.

“Oh, no problem,” Jensen says lightly. “You probably wouldn’t have forgotten if I hadn’t been under your feet all week.” It’s said in a deprecating tone, but the funny thing is that having Jensen around hasn’t been _that_ much of a hindrance, if anything, he’s helped Jared go through his files twice as fast.

"You’ve been great,” he insists, hoping that there’s enough sincerity in his tone. “And hey man, I'm sorry for unloading that crap on you back there. I know that a hand job doesn’t suddenly make us boyfriends. You didn’t need to go into panic mode and do your best to push me away. I get it. You’re off limits.”  
  
Jensen shifts uncomfortably, "It’s fine. Look, I don't do relationships - I _ruin_ them. And right now, I am focusing on rebuilding the most important one, with my son. That has to come first and there aren’t many people out there who understand that. I would not be able to put you first or pay you the attention that you need, and I don’t want to hurt any more people than I have already.” Jared’s not asking him to, but he does get it. Jensen wants to reconnect with his son and a prospective partner would only be a distraction. Jared’s never dated a guy with a child before so he can’t say that he fully gets it, but he knows that Jensen’s son has got to come first.  
  
"If the circumstances were different, I'd be all over you, trust me but...you deserve better, Jared," Jensen says. "You're young, smart, funny. You'll find someone." Jared can tell that he means well, but it still kind of hurts, it hurts a lot more than it should. . He didn't ask Jensen for anything, so he's not sure why he's getting a rejection but whatever; he now knows where he stands. Jared’s never had much luck in relationships, and this one’s following the trend and it barely even started.

"Thanks for the pep talk,” he says. “I’ll remember it the next time I get rejected.”

They don’t speak much after that.

~

Jared does his best to forget that they’d been shot at the last time they were here. Even though he swears that there is phantom pain in his arm. He can admit that a tiny part of him feels a little bit safer with Jensen here, though the knowledge that he has his gun on him just makes him feel worse so he doesn’t voice his concerns.

“So, what’s the plan?” Jensen asks as they’re walking along the dirt pathway that leads to the house.

“We knock on the door and wait to see what happens,” Jared replies in a deadpan tone. He’s sure that Jensen wishes that things could be a little more exciting but this isn’t _Cops_. They have a job to do. Jensen rolls his eyes but he doesn’t argue.

In the end, Dana makes it easy for them. She’s sitting out on the porch before they even reach the door. She looks like a pale imitation of the pictures that Jared’s seen of her. Her blonde hair is dull, greasy looking and in general bad shape, her skin is almost translucent and she seems frail, as if she can’t physically stand up.

“I’ve been waiting for you to show up,” she says softly. “Waiting for someone to come looking for my boy…” A bad feeling hits Jared gut and he takes a step closer to her. Jensen's hand shoots out and closes against his wrist. Jared looks at him, confused at the concern in Jensen's eyes. There's no way that Dana is capable of hurting him in the state that she's in, and while he should call Jeff and get him to send the police and techs down here, he's more concerned with letting Dana tell him her story first. From the looks of things, she's been waiting to do that for years.  
  
"How about we go inside, Dana," he says gently. "I’m Jared and he’s Jensen. How about we go inside? He has a bad leg and can't stand for long."  
  
"Oh, now I'm being used to get into the house," Jensen mutters under his breath. Dana doesn't say anything else; she merely stands and walks to the front door. She doesn't look back once and Jared feels a pang of sadness at her plight. He's about to follow her in but Jensen stops him.  
  
"I hope you're not going to go all easy on her and believe any story that she spins." Jensen clearly isn't going through the same emotional turmoil that Jared is. "It's a little convenient that we meet her sitting here. She must have heard the ruckus over at Beaver's place. That story he sold us? We already know it was from her."  
  
"All I care about is what happened to Connor," Jared says. "That's it. Anything else, we can deal with later. Don’t stir things up, okay?”

“I feel like we’ve had this conversation a lot over the past week,” Jensen says. “It’s like I’m the naughty kid being scolded before I’ve even done anything wrong. What are you going to do next, spank me?” Even though it feels wrong to be cracking jokes, Jared can’t help smiling a little. It helps to push down the bad feeling that’s threatening to relieve him of his lunch.

“Only if you behave,” Jared says flirtatiously. Jensen’s wink is followed by him grinning brightly and he regrets saying it almost immediately. “Oh, just get inside.” It feels wrong to be making light of what could potentially be the start of a devastating chain of events, but it helps Jared calm down and regain his focus. Jensen’s right, he can’t just buy whatever Dana’s selling. He needs to be sure.

Once they’re in, the mood darkens considerably. Dana’s still in a bad way and the house…the house is a fucking mess. Everything is covered in a thick layer of dust; there are papers and all sorts strewn across the floor. The clock’s stopped and the television screen has a large crack in the middle. The wallpaper is peeling and the carpeted floors are discoloured – it doesn’t look as if someone’s been living here, yet it looks as if Dana has been here for some time. And by the time they get her to speak, neither of them are in a joking mood. The reality of the situation is finally visible and Jared can’t help finding it anything but sad.  
  
"It was early evening, and we...we were arguing, me and James, Connor's father. We always did. Usually he'd be up in the room playing with his toys, but he could hear. We knew it and we did it anyway. I thought the fighting and arguing would stop after we broke up. We weren’t married thankfully, but…we had Connor. James and I were inextricably linked and there was nothing we could do about it. Except fight more.

“Everything came to a head that day when he wanted to take Connor for a few days. Rumours were flying around about my mental state. Everyone was asking me how I was coping, if I needed help…all because he missed a couple of days at school and I was looking kind of down. What did they know?” Dana’s stare is vacant and it’s as though she doesn’t even know that they’re still here. She seems to be stuck in time, her mouth hanging open with no words coming out.

“This is crazy,” Jensen mutters. “We should just call Jeff and let him know that we’ve found her and let him deal—“ Jared cuts him off with a swift elbow.

“What part of ‘don’t stir this up’ didn’t you understand?” Jared hisses. “Stop talking. Dana, can you tell us what happened next?” Jensen throws his hands up in mock surrender and mimes zipping his mouth shut. Jared’s not sure how he’s fallen for a guy who can be a complete dick. Clearly he has some disastrous Shakespearean fatal flaw that means that he’ll be unlucky in love forever.

“I…he wanted to take Connor for a few days,” Dana continues, as she focuses her gaze on Jared. “I said that he couldn’t because Connor was scared of him, we _both_ were, and it led to an argument and he…he…Connor must have been watching from his window because he came running down out of nowhere and he got in between us and…” She trails off and Jared’s unable to prompt her. Just from her tone, it’s obvious that something terrible has happened and his heart is caught in his throat as nausea whirls around his stomach.

Surprisingly it’s Jensen that comes through. He leans forward and grasps one of Dana’s hands in his own.

“Tell us what happened and we can help you,” he says soothingly. While Jared can only look on in surprise, Dana responds instantly. She looks up at Jensen; her blue eyes fixed on his her green ones.

“James, he pushed Connor off him and he…he fell, my baby fell and, he hit his head.” Jared’s hand flies to his mouth. “I tried everything to get him to wake up but Connor was gone.”

After a minute or so, Jared finally finds his voice. “Why didn’t you call the police?” Dana looks up at him but before she can answer the door slams and a voice sounds.

“That’s a good question.”

~

Dana shuts down completely when she catches wind of the new arrival. Judging by the look of terror in her eyes, Jared can tell that this is James. He’s tall, with dark hair and a light beard. He doesn’t look too pleased to see them.

“This isn’t going to end well.” Jensen’s words are spoken in a low mumble.

“My father warned me about you,” James says. “Or well, he tried to tell me that my time w was up and that I should turn myself in. Nosy old bastard. He couldn’t even keep his stories straight.”

Jensen raises an eyebrow. “You’re Jim Beaver’s son?”

“I’m a lot of things that are none of your business,” James spits out. “You have two minutes to get out of this house.”

“Or what?” Jensen says, standing so that he can look at James head-on. “You endangered your son, and you’re keeping your partner here against her will, and that’s only that parts that we know about. We’re not going anywhere until you ride out of her in the back of a squad car.”

“Go…” Dana tunes back in, her hands trembling in her lap. “If you don’t want to get hurt then please just go.”

“We’re not leaving you here,” Jensen says. “And we’re not going anywhere until you tell us what you did with Connor.”

Dana starts to sob quietly, her chest heaving as tears splash down onto her cheeks. “He’s buried here on the land, about 20 feet away from the house.”

“Goddammit would you shut the hell up?” James explodes with rage. “I knew that you would ruin everything for us eventually.” Jared’s lost for words but he needs to do something. He pulls out his phone, ready to call the police and then Jeff but the sound of a tell-tale click stops him in his tracks. He looks up to see the barrel of James’s gun staring down at him. Jensen springs into action almost immediately, and all of a sudden he and James are squaring off and embroiled in an armed standoff.

“What kind of social worker carries a gun?” James splutters as he eyes Jensen with disdain. “This country really is going to shit.”

Jensen smiles bitterly. “I’m a bounty hunter, asshole and guess what? I’m cashing in.”

Without any warning, he fires off a shot and the bullet clips James in the shoulder sending him crashing against the front room door as blood starts to seep through his jacket. Dana lets out a frightened scream Jared reaches out to grab her. His ears are still ringing from the shot and he glares at Jensen.

“This is your definition of not stirring things?” He glances over at James, who’s still on the floor, though his hand is now pressed against his shoulder.

“You can slap me on my wrists later,” Jensen says. “Call Jeff and get him down here, along with the police. Dana can tell us the truth while we wait.” Jared frowns at him and turns back to Dana who’s looking bewildered from where’s she’s still in his arms. He releases her gently and steps aside to make the call. Once he’s done he ambles over towards them and retakes his seat, lord knows that he needs to because this entire trip has been a huge rollercoaster of emotion. The sad thing is that a child is dead and here they are, wasting time instead of trying to find him, but…they owe to Connor to get the real truth once and for all.

“I didn’t tell you this before but when I spoke to Jim, I told him a little about my son, Lucas,” Jensen explains. “Typical heartfelt things designed to get Jim to open up and he did. He mentioned that he had a son too; one who he felt was being manipulated by the woman he was in love with. Dana’s sister claimed that Jim Beaver was a bitter, old man who could have taken the kid—“

“Oh, that’s fucking rich,” James interrupts from his position on the floor.

Jared finally realises something. “You never did tell me what he said, though I guessed it was something to do with Dana.”

“Yes and I wasn’t sure at first what Jim was trying to tell me with that whole story about his son, or why he’d do what the kid’s mother asked him to, when he admittedly didn’t even know her all that well. Something just didn’t add up.” Dana’s sighs suddenly, her face morphing into a cruel expression. She stands up, with no signs of the frailty she displayed earlier one.

“Spare me your long, drawn out, dramatic _Columbo_ reveal,” she says coldly. “Yes I asked Jim to lie for me and James.”

“Do not bring me into this, you’re the reason why Connor got hurt, I was just stupid enough to fall into your trap!” James says, clearly struggling for breath. Jared’s first aid training kicks in and he busies himself with making a tourniquet for James’ shoulder. It helps distract him from the fact that he’s basically almost fucked up this case. He was close to buying Dana’s story hook, line and sinker and ending up being named and shamed on the eleven o’clock news for failing to protect America’s children.

“How did you know that she was spinning us a lie?” Jared asks.

“Her nails,” Jensen says. “They look like they’ve been freshly manicured and painted in the past few days. I didn’t notice until I took her hand. But it was a little bit at odds with the image she was trying to portray.” Dana’s hands flex automatically and Jared catches sight of her perfect, red nails. He pinches the bridge of his nose and exhales quietly. He should be noticing things like that.

“Figures,” James huffs out. “You neglected your son, dragged us out here to live like savages and you were more concerned with getting your nails done. Well done, Dana. Thanks for everything.”

Dana finally loses her cool. “Don’t try to put the blame on me, asshole. You were just as responsible as I was! He was only your son, when it was convenient. Your own father was more of father to him than you were!”

“Probably because he knew what a complete and utter mess you were,” James shoots back. “

Thankfully, they’re spared a full on shouting match by the police arriving with Jeff hot on their heels.

~

They find Connor’s remains in the early hours of the next morning in the land around Beaver’s house. Jared’s there, watching on silently as they dig, with Jensen standing by his side. He doesn’t cry, though it’s hard not to feel strong emotions, it’s hard not to feel as if he failed. He wasn’t the one who killed Connor, yet there’s always going to be that lingering doubt in his mind. What if he’d picked up the file earlier? What if they could have prevented this and gotten Connor out of what was clearly a harmful environment?

“Don’t beat yourself up over this, Jared,” Jensen says softly. “For every kid like Connor, there are the ones that you help. Just remember that.”

“For every kid like Connor, there are others out there suffering the same fate that he did,” Jared replies. “I can’t ever forget that.” He knows that’s not the point Jensen was trying to make, but it still stands. The world is a dark place sometimes and as much as Jared, and his co-workers try, it’s always going to be that way. Happy endings cancelled out by sad ones, bad people getting away with murder; good people being forced to live in pain. “I’m really glad that I had your help on this one,” he adds. “I would have believed Dana, hell, I did believe her. I wanted to believe her so badly. Even after everything Alona told us about her possibly pretending to sick. More fool me, right?”

“I was glad to be there,” Jensen says, choosing to respond to that first. “Someone’s got to have your back! And I get it. You like to be able to see the good in people, no matter how flawed they are and that’s what makes you good at your job.”

The compliment doesn’t do much to ease Jared’s discomfort. The whole situation makes Jared feel like giving up but he knows that he can’t. He knows that in a few hours’ time he’s going to walk into the office and eye that mass of files on his desk and want to give up. He won’t though, he’ll just pick up the top file and get stuck into, the same way he always does because life doesn’t wait for anybody.

It keeps going.

_Epilogue_

A month and three files later, Jensen’s back working with Jared again. This time they’re trying to locate a missing teacher who vanished without a trace six months ago, and while it’s less emotionally taxing than trying to find a missing child, it’s still a daunting task. The fact that he and Jensen haven’t really spoken properly since everything happened makes it awkward. Jared stills gets that annoying flutter of _want_ in his stomach when he sees Jensen walking around the office, so those feelings are still there, much to his chagrin. Jensen’s seemed unaffected, his usual charm and arrogance have been on display, though Jared’s the first person to know that’s not a true reflection of Jensen’s inner status.

“Please tell me that you’ve updated your truck,” Jensen says when he reaches Jared’s desk. He’s still got a slight limp but it seems less pronounced. Jared doesn’t ask about it because he doesn’t want things to be weird. Luckily for him everyone is out for lunch, so he doesn’t have to be careful of what he says. Sandy’s been sniffing around ever since she saw the hickey; she’s convinced that he and Jensen are sneaking around behind everyone’s backs, no matter how many times Jared tries to tell her that a relationship is not on the cards.

“It’s been a month, and it case you haven’t noticed, I did not win the lottery,” he says when he catches Jensen staring at him expectantly. “I do have bills to pay.” Jared’s actually been considering getting a roommate now that Jensen seems to have sorted out some kind of accommodation. Or at least he assumes he has. Given past history, Jared’s not offered up his spare room again. He doesn’t want to deal with anymore rejection.

“I’ve missed you,” Jensen says softly, catching Jared off guard. “I keep thinking about how I said that I needed to focus on getting access to my son, but I was talking to Danneel about it and she said that I was just using Luke as an excuse.”

“I thought that you and Danneel weren’t on the best of terms?” Jared picks that to comment on because he doesn’t even know what the hell to think about Jensen missing him or _thinking_ about him. Not when he’s spent the last four weeks trying to put it behind him.

“We patched things up, for Luke’s sake,” Jensen says. “After watching Dana and James self-destruct, I decided that I’m never going to let that happen with me and Dani. We’re mature enough to be civil to each other for the sake of our son.”

“So you think that you can just waltz in here and sweep me off my feet, while I ignore the fact that you rejected me?”

“You said you understood.” Jensen has the gall to look _hurt_ and Jared blows out a deep breath. He likes Jensen, even though he can be annoying, frustrating and a total pain in the ass. And Jensen’s here and seemingly willing to give things between them a chance.

“I did,” Jared replies. “But fuck, you…can’t just expect me to…goddammit, I’ve missed you too. More than I can say, and…I can’t begrudge you for wanting to put your son first. If anything it made me like you little bit more, but I have no idea if it would work, Jensen.”

“So what do we do now?” Jensen asks. Jared deliberates the options in his mind silently. Giving in would be so easy, too easy given the events of the past month. He doesn’t want to let down his barriers and get his heart stamped on in the process; not by Jensen of all people.

“We can be friends.” That seems fair, right? Friends. They can do that without it being awkward.

Jensen looks at Jared for a long time, his green eyes staring up at him, full of an emotion that Jared can’t decipher.

“I don’t want to be your _friend_ ,” he says pleadingly. “I want to know how I can prove to you that I was an idiot for rejecting you and that I want to give us a chance. You’re the only person in a long time who’s seen the real me and liked it. Most people fall for my cocky, charming act and I…you’re the _only_ person that makes me want to open up. I don’t want to lose that, and I don’t want to lose you before I’ve had a chance to love you. Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

Jensen’s voice is the right mixture of heartfelt and hopeful and Jared feels his resolve coming apart at the seams. He wants this. He wants Jensen, and fuck, he’d be an idiot to not take this chance.

“Well you can start by making me dinner,” he says, smiling a little bit. “And if you’re lucky, I _might_ just put out.” It’s probably not the most adequate response, but Jared doesn’t care.

Jensen hums at his words. “Yeah, so…now is the time I tell you that I’m a terrible cook, but an _awesome_ restaurant picker. Does that count?” Jared laughs as he stands up from his desk and steps toward Jensen.

“We’ll have to see about that later,” he murmurs, before leaning into kiss Jensen, their lips pressing against each other’s gently as they smile into the kiss. The taste of Jensen is still intoxicating and it still makes Jared’s heart do funny things in his chest. They fit and Jared’s not sure why they ever thought they could ignore this. Even though their budding relationship might not go anywhere, or it might crash and burn, Jared has a good feeling about it.

This could be love in plain sight.

**Fin.**

 

* * *

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misery_(film)


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